


A Touch of Color

by leiascully



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Lipstick & Lip Gloss, Wine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex doesn't come to dinner, so Matt comes to see her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Touch of Color

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mygalfriday (BrinneyFriday)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrinneyFriday/gifts).



> Timeline: N/A  
> A/N: For Pam, who needed cheering up. And I checked - there is a MAC store in Cardiff.  
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction that bears no resemblance to and claims no knowledge of the people about whom it is written.

Alex is sitting in her flat when there's a knock on the door. It isn't Karen: that's always a sustained pounding and a Scottish bellow ordering her to open up. It isn't Arthur: the sound is crisp when he knocks, polite, and usually followed by "Alex? It's me." It isn't the driver: she hasn't anywhere to go. This knock is tentative, slightly bashful. She can practically see the way Matt's hair falls over his eyes as he slouches in the corridor in front of her flat. Alex sets down her glass of wine and tries to muster a smile.

"Alex," Matt says, sounding, if it's possible, slightly relieved. 

"Come in," she says, standing back. He saunters into her flat, not taking off his jacket. "Glass of wine?"

"Please," he says, sitting down on the sofa as she pours. He accepts the glass with a nod. "You didn't come to dinner."

"Black dog on my shoulder," she says with a shrug, sitting on the edge of her chair. "We all have down days, don't we?"

"Sure," he says. "But you've got more reasons than some of the rest of us. If we're homesick, we can skip off home for the weekend."

"I have family I could visit," she assures him. 

"But maybe not the one you want to see," he says. "Missing the sunshine?"

She smiles at him truly this time, although the corners of her mouth are a little weighed down. "Aren't you the discerning one this evening?"

"These old eyes of mine," he tells her. 

She laughs, and feels a very little bit better. "Well, your perceptiveness and your presence are both welcome. I'm sorry about dinner. I did think I'd make it, and then sulking in my pajamas eating leftovers seemed so much easier." 

He fumbles in the pocket of his jacket. "I brought you something." He passes her a slick black plastic bag. She knows it's from MAC even before she uncrumples it. "I wasn't sure what you'd like."

She opens the bag and pulls out three lipsticks in varying shades of red and pink. "Oh...Matt, you shouldn't have." 

"I showed your picture to the shop people. They gave me those." He shrugs. "They said if they didn't cheer you up, they could do you something sparklier." 

"These are lovely," she reassures him, taking the tubes out of their packaging. The colors are rich and lovely, like flowers on a grey January day. 

"Did they cheer you up?" He looks so hopeful.

"Absolutely," she tells him. And she does feel better. It isn't the makeup. It's the fact that he took the time. It's the fact that he noticed she was sad, and knew why she was sad, and let her be sad. She does enjoy Karen's attempts to cheer her up, but those evenings are always loud. Alex wanted some quiet. Splitting her life between continents is a noisy affair at times: arguments with her ex, endless phone calls with airlines, Skype conversations when she can manage them. There aren't many of the wordless moments she craves. Matt looks at her without expectation, apparently just pleased that she's pleased. 

"Want to watch a movie or something?" she says. It seems rude to kick him out, and anyway, now that he's here, she's glad of the company.

"Definitely," he says. "Something old - I'm not in the mood for explosions. A quiet night in."

"Perfect," she says. 

It seems natural, after she's gotten up and put in _Roman Holiday_ , to settle onto the sofa next to him. He slips his arm around her shoulder and she cuddles into his side. _Yes_ , she thinks. She can't have the moment she wants, but she can have this moment, which is nearly as good, in its own very different way. She has wine and she has warmth and she has an old familiar story. Slowly, softly, content seeps back into her soul. 

"Cheers," Matt says, and she echoes it back, and even the wine tastes sweeter.


End file.
